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i think tiffin is good school, my family did not eat yesterday because i gave all my money to the school

- Pupil At Tiffin, Kingston

know I am not alone when I say:

"DR SLADE FOR HEADMASTER

I feel it is only him who can do justice to a school of such stature.

- Anon., Kingston upon Thames, England"

SECONDED

- Anon, kingston

Alastair Morley-Brown, why do you say pupils and parents alike have a debt to society. We do not have a debt to anyone, education is a human right, so get with it. Also, I think if anyone has a debt then it is the school to the pupils, as it is us and our commitment that sees the school so high up the league tables every year. Perhaps instead of indulging in nostalgia about how the school was "wonderful" back in 1890 when your children were educated their you should perhaps consider moving on in life and realising thier are better things to do than feel resentment towards parents whose children go to the school today and who acheive better results than have ever been seen at Tiffin School.

- Tiffin Pupil, Kingston Vale

i go to this school, trust me, its all going rapidly downhill! if your a parent, find somewhere else!

- Ts, kingston UK

I see that the wonderfully rigorous ofsted praised the financial management of the school in its latest report-'meticulous'. I wonder what else it missed!

- p lee, walsall

If Tiffins wants £50,000 from the local authority then perhaps it needs to be forced to start taking a few more local children - whos parents pay rates locally - instead of pushing them out in favour of kids from other boroughs - and even other counties.

- Mike Butcher, Kingston

D C is right, the school is not for local children. It is for bright children, the majority of whom happen to live locally. Just because the boys are bright does not mean their parents are either rich or tight fisted. Don't take out your resentment on the pupils or their families. The school is a success because of the standard of it's intake and because the parents contribute far more financially than parents at other schools. The problem lies with Kingston council itself. Continually allowing new homes to be built but not providing an extra secondary school for it's ever growing population has to contribute to some of the jealousy D C is feeling.

- J A, Kingston, Surrey

My son is very happy at Tiffin, and he attended a local primary and was not coached for entry - we would have been happy for him to attend one of Kingston's excellent state schools, as his siblings did. For many parents however it is the only alternative to private education, and they are able to pay a large parental donation. Perhaps, as this fund has been used to cover some of the running costs of the school, there is very little left. Tiffin does expect parents to contribute a great deal more than other schools. We do feel very let down by Mr Heslop - he may be culpable, he may have been asked to leave - but we don't know as we have not been informed. We expect our children to face up to their mistakes and try to put them right, and he has just gone with no explanation.

- Tiffin Parent, Kingston-upon-Thames

Those of us that can afford to will cough up to help support his outstanding school. No idea where the blame lies and right now do not really care but I just want to make sure my son continues to receive the support and education he has been. Local children can get a place there if they pass the exam. Those who resent the fact that their children can't get into this great school miss the point of what makes its results so great - the raw material they are working with.

- Anon, Twickenham, England

Maybe they'll have a hard time getting the funds from the parents as they are rich for a reason and thats being tight fisted with their money...Its not for local children so the council (sorry us the taxpayer) shouldnt provide anything!!!

- Dc, London

I should point out that the comments about Tiffin TV and Joe Brown were not made by me but in my name. I should also point out that Tiffin TV was set up through the efforts of Tiffin students pitching their idea to local companies and what they raised through this was fundmatched by charity.

- Anthony Fitzgerald, Kingston

Pauline Cox, should take over both schools, she had done excellent job at Tiffin Girls.

- parent of Tiffin Girls, Kingston-upon-thames

It is regrettable that when a news item is published, the uninformed, bitter, prejudiced & twisted of our community, feel that they have to contribute to the debate. The letters from past & present Tiffins pupils, their parents & staff give a much more accurate & balanced view of the situation; quite rightly.
If you've nothing more than spiteful & inaccurate comments to make, please leave immediately.

- Carla deWaard, Isleworth, Middlesex

"That's what you get for staying at a school where they force-feed you everything. None of the pupils are actually intelligent, they merely past the simplest of non-verbal and verbal reasoning tests. Perhaps now the majority of those attending will come into the real world."

This is the most ridiculous comment on the page - nothing is force-fed at either of the Tiffin schools, the pupils are naturally bright and this is why they get such good results!

- Bec, Kingston-upon-Thames

i left tiffin last year and i really feel sorry for the current pupils. i remember a couple of years ago rumours began to spread that tiffin was in debt but these seemed inaccurate as Mr Heslop was always spending money. it seemed strange to have so many new features in a state school, especially one that was already performing so highly-i cant remember a year when GCSE and A-Level results were an improvement on the previous year, before or after Heslop's arrival, or one that had only just built an extension to the school in the form of the Dempsey centre. Heslop's innitiatives could rarely be described as revolutionary or even successful as far as i could tell and he was obsessed with grades achieved, as his assemblies often showed.

- anon, molesey

Dhanraj should get his facts right before speaking, as there is no premium required to stay at Tiffins, and judging from his comment "I wouldn't be sorry to see it fold"; perhaps he has several children, who just failed to get into the local grammar school?

There's nothing wrong with only taking in the children who are able to pass the entrance exams (in fact, many of the children do not, and are instead put immediately on the waiting list to get in.)

And as for MacDaddy, I can tell you that you're wrong. Through all my years of study at Tiffins, (now in U6th), I can assure you that they do no force-feeding for the exams at all. The reason why Tiffins consistently ranks fairly high is not because the students have been taught the exam and not the subject, but because they're intelligent enough to achieve mostly As/A*.

Heslop has made many changes since he's been at Tiffins, and as a consequence, our GCSE results from last year were the best the school has ever achieved, putting us near the top of league tables for the first time in many years.

The school has released an open letter to the public, availible on their website: http://www.tiffin.kingston.sch.uk/index.php?&mod=page&page=Tiffin%20Community%20News

- Current Pupil in U6th, Kingston

MacDaddy, Twickenham, I don't think you have any right to question the intelligence of others. In your comment "they merely past the simplest of non-verbal and verbal reasoning tests" I think you will find the word should be "passed".

- bb, S.E London

I know I am not alone when I say:

DR SLADE FOR HEADMASTER

I feel it is only him who can do justice to a school of such stature.

- Anon., Kingston upon Thames, England

Many things are really good in the school such as careers advice and university advice s´ports are also strong despite what people have written.

- Frank, london

Joe Brown is wrong in saying Tiffin TV was financed by the school. This was financed by the careers department and a charity. Mr Heslop has been let down by his senior staff.

- Anthony Fitzgerald, london

Tiffin is a great school, it's way over subscribed and every time I go there I feel a sense of pride that my son is a pupil. He's thrived there. He could have gone across the road (KGS) or to our local comprehensive but it does not have a 6th form and Tiffin has brought out the best in him. He was lucky enough to have Sean Heslop actually teach him in Year 7 and I have always been impressed by his determination to turn Tiffin from a very good school into an outstanding one. I was disappointed he decided to go to Folkestone but I wish him well.

As for the finances, it's not good but it certainly is not as bad as your headlines paint. My voluntary contribution is just that, entirely voluntary and it's £520 per year. I've never heard anyone being asked to pay £1200. The Chair of Governors is doing a good job trying to keep things in proportion and Tiffin will continue to be a great school.

I've never done this sort of thing before but I suppose it was like this for Ross and Brand on a much bigger scale. So many people who really don't know what they a re talking about but feel the need to express themselves in such intemperate language.

- Tffin Parent, Twickenham

My son is a Year 7 pupil at Tiffin. He is having a fantastic start to his secondary education. I just hope that if RBK are helping the school sort this mess, that local children whose parents pay their council tax in Kingston, will get priority for places there, as should always have been the case.
I cannot believe comment from Dhanraj 'I wouldn't be sorry to see it fold' - how small minded and mean-spirited can you get? Presumably he has no secondary aged children and cannot therefore imagine the impact it would have on their education!
Sean Heslop is an inspiring character, it is a shame that he couldn't have shown a little more commitment than 5 years, having made such revolutionary changes.

- Anon, Kingston

As a former Tiffin teacher, who left the school several years ago, I am deeply saddened to hear what is happening to the school and its pupils, particularly since I count the time I spent their with its boys & staff as the happiest years in my teaching career Clearly there have been problems with Mr Heslop's leadership, in comparison with the enterprising financial management of Dr Dempsey. It is, however, wrong to put all the blame for problems at the school entirely at Mr Heslop's feet. Even under Dr Dempsey, the ethos and values of the school were changing in the constant quest for innovation, none of which began to work. At the same time, experienced teachers, well respected by pupils and parents, were made to feel completely undervalued, useless and were encouraged to leave, or certainly not encouraged to stay. Without the stable core, things declined.

Tiffin's finest assets are the boys who go there. They are not the product of privilege portrayed by some who comment here; indeed many come from very ordinary homes. I do hope the school recovers from this and the innocent victims of this tragedy, the boys and hardworking teachers, do not suffer too much as a result and in time stability and sanity are restored.

- Former Tiffin teacher, Kingston upon Thames

He looks very shady to me ! I hate these silly half beards and beards in general.

- Kathy Doyle, London


..and this? Best comment I've ever read.

- MacDaddy, Twickenham

That's what you get for staying at a school where they force-feed you everything. None of the pupils are actually intelligent, they merely past the simplest of non-verbal and verbal reasoning tests. Perhaps now the majority of those attending will come into the real world.

- MacDaddy, Twickenham

Put madigan in charge, and fire chudders.

- ex tiffin student, kingston

i am also currently a puil at the school. my last comment didnt seem to work, probably because i swore in it. THE HEADMASTER LEFT LATE IN THE AFTERNOON ON FRIDAY. he did it without telling the rest of the staff and following a meeting entitled 'the tiffin budget deficit'. many of the staff were talking about it after lunch and many seemed as if they just couldn't care - some happy even. fact is he got us into this by introducing many expensive schemes and staff that idn't work and were not necessary in the first place.

- ballum cruce, kingston-upon-thames

I am a current student at the school and I know that the teaching has depleted considerably since dempsey left. The school has taken on inexperienced teachers e.g. Sherwani who had to be sacked within the first term. We work on our own from home without sufficient help. This article was blocked off from our network and we are still being kept in the dark. We are intelligent enough to know that our school cannot afford equipment for our practicals which contribute to our actual Gcses and A levels.

- Mr X, Kingston

Yeh basically Sean Heslop has left the school

- N. Sonnabee, Kingston

I think all of this speculation is appalling.
I agree that Mr Heslop may be partially to blame for the situation, which is not at all a crisis.

As for saying that it is failing, and that its sports teams are going down hill due to neglect... it's just ridiculous. 'if you look at it's CVA3 scores, which show the level of value add where 1000 is the average, Tiffin only gets 980 and is the worst performing school in Kingston.'; now this is just down right wrong. valuing CVA3 scores over GCSE and A level results is absurd. The school is by FAR the best school in the borough, joint with Tiffin Girls, of course. Labelling it the worst is ludicrous.

Tiffin is a fantastic school which has been around for 127 years; I sincerely hope that it will be around for another 127 more.

Oh and as for calling the school a 'joke'... don't make me laugh.

- K B, Kingston Upon Thames, London

"Tiffin boys’ school in crisis as £800,000 reserves disappear"

there has been a thief operating in the changing rooms, maybe heslop left it there. Desperate year 11's

- nbcb, cbn

generally speaking, pupils feel abandoned by shaun heslop, and any high opinions of him have dissipated expedentially since,

firstly the vertical tuoring farce that he pulled on everyone

secondly, his sudden departure, which as a pupil i have still not heard him inform anyone of it, pupils only found out by trawling the internet.

thirdly, debt. great.

to conclude, heslop IMHO hasn't had a solid impact on me or the school and all changes have been incremental or a continuation of Dr Dempsey's (WHAT A MAN) decisions.

shaun talks the talk. but unfortunately for the lower school he is greedy and devious.


If Dr. Dempsey reads this...COME BACK....out of retirement...

- tiffin Pupil, kingston

As a current pupil of the school, I am surprised that the school has found itself in this situation, but I do feel that it is a situation that will be corrected sooner rather than later. We do waste money, and it's the kick up the backside we needed. I do feel sorry for Mr Heslop as it looks like he's running now he's became aware of the situation (although he doesn't know the name of every boy as mentioned above) but I hope the rumours that he has resigned with immediate effect are untrue. Mr Heslop has brought the school into the 21st century, in some areas successfully, and in some ways not, but overall I think he has done well. The issues might be with the fact that there are too many staff in charge of too many things - surely this causes money issues? I also love the school though, and hope the school will get through it successfully. It is one of the best schools in the country, with absolutely fantastic facilities and opportunities and I do hope it comes out of this stronger!

- Anonymous, Kingston upon Thames, England

I am a pupil at the school. Today, the school blocked this page to stop us looking at it. I don't understand why they did this as everyone knew roughly what was happening. It just blew everything out of proportion. However, I am sad to see Mr. Heslop go, as I think that he is a great Headmaster.

- Anonymous, Kingston-upon-Thames

I left tiffins a couple of years ago and back then there was some rumour of discontent amongst staff as to how Heslop ran the school. Although i was not there when dr dempsey was there, many of my friends and the staff had far greater respect for him compared to heslop. I hope that this situation can be resolved in the future.

- Anonymous, London

A "voluntary aided" school is a state school in which a foundation (often a religious organisation) contributes to the costs.
The term has nothing to do with the voluntary contributions that many state schools raise from parents. It is illegal for them to make such payments compulsory.

If the Evening Standard's reporters think that "voluntary aided" status means parents are required to contribute to the running costs, they have probably made other errors in the article. Time for the education correspondent to go back to school!

- Anon, Kingston

I would like to thank Mr Heslop and his staff for all the help and support they have given me during my time at Tiffin. I wish Mr Heslop all the best in his future appointment.

- anon, east molesey

My son is a current Tiffin student and I find all this very worrying. My son understands that Mr Heslop has left the school abruptly today, a term earlier than planned, though this is not confirmed formally. The plan was for the Head of Tiffin Girls to run Tiffin Boys as well for a while but we do not know if she is available straight away.

On the funding side the school has applied heavy pressure to parents on the "voluntary" contribution in the last few years. We have had a reassuring email from the Governors about the recent press coverage and the state of funding but it raises more questions than it answers.

The school is good but, as one comment noted, it has traded on its reputation and quality of intake for a while. Mr Heslop has famously dropped homework in favour of Independent Study, without providing enough guidance and discipline for the boys on it. As a result many of them are doing very little work. The results of this experiment will not be known for a couple of years.

There are also many examples of things being badly run or letting the boys down, with the result that levels of indifference and demotivation are rising among the pupils.

We have the strong impression that standards in sport are slipping and suspect that academic standards could follow.

The school may glitter but it is not gold.
Let's hope a better head teacher can be found quickly.

- Anonymous, Kingston

The headteacher is ultimately accountable even if he did not personally oversee the budgets he must resign. Mr Heslop has done the honourable thing. Headteachers now are getting younger and I think I remember that he was appointed as a headteacher in his thirtees. This may be because there are now so few people applying for headships that they younger and less experienced applicants get the post. I feel you need some experience behind you before taking on this demanding role.

- Anon, Kingston UK

How can it be a State School when parents are asked for a 'premium' to just get in and stay on and when a handful of local kids get educated there? I wouldn't be sorry to see it fold.

- Dhanraj, Basildon Essex

So the borough of Kingston is helping- even though the majority of children are from out of borough. And will the council tax payer be footing the bill?
Lets hope the parents will be asking many questions of the head

- E Evans, kingston

As a curren pupil of the school I am annoyed about the way the school handled this situation. this website was blocked the day this article was published and pupils and staff have seemingly been kept in the dark.

- Anonymous, Kingston

As an ex-pupil I am devastated to hear that Tiffin is now struggling. I know that Tiffin offered excellent sport, music, art and drama facilities during my time at the school, no doubt these will be the first to suffer.

- Anon, Kingston-upon-Thames

Judging Tiffin school a success by it's exam results is rather pointless as you can use the stats to prove any point that you want to make. For example, if you look at it's CVA3 scores, which show the level of value add where 1000 is the average, Tiffin only gets 980 and is the worst performing school in Kingston.

- Matthew, Kingston upon Thames

The school is a fantastic place. The television studio is separately financed and has nothing to do with the school's overall budget and was financed by private investors.

With the borough of Kingston helping to keep the school running, there are no immediate threats to the school.

- Anonymous, Kingston upon Thames

Tiffin is a great school producing high educational attainment and turning out mature well-mannered young adults as embodied by their cricket team who are streets ahead in behaviour compared with those at Public School.

- Bill Edmunds, Ilford England

A private school in Cornwall, one of the least well off areas of the country, managed to raise £500,000 in less than a week to prevent closure. I am sure the parents in Kingston can surely raise sufficient funds.

- Patrick Griffin, Dalston, London

It may be true that the school is doing better in the league tables but that could be due to a better intake. All I've seen is an increase in scruffy boys particularly with the introduction of polo shirts as part of the uniform, the sports teams have gone down hill with that department being neglected, and thousands have been invested in an unnecessary TV station who's budget is higher than the economics departments. Tiffin Boys is becoming a joke of a school where academic excellence is placed above that of school spirit. In reality these boys would get excellent grades wherever they went this school needs to focus on making them more of a unit and stop wasting money on pointless advertising methods.

- Anonymous, Kingston upon Thames

I am ashamed to see what has happened here, a school of such stature falling into the pits. There is only one man to blame, the Head, he screwed up big. He has a dug a hole for Tiffin, shame on him. His departure is somewhat of a coincidence.........

- Joe Brown, Kingston upon Thames

He looks very shady to me ! I hate these silly half beards and beards in general.

- Kathy Doyle, London

This worries me,
"He now faces questions over his handling of Tiffin's finances"

I left the school in the same year that Mr Heslop joined as Headmaster. I am heartened by John Edwards' comments, however I reserve my doubts. The first thing he said in our assembly was that he promised to learn every name of every boy in that Main Hall. Well he didn't know mine or many others in fact! Dr Dempsey was indubitably a better leader and more charismatic. It is interesting that several other key members of staff left at the same time, or soon after he did (Clennett/Fogg/Epstein etc) and have seemingly been replaced by younger, less experienced teachers.
Either way, Tiffin is a great school and I hope it recovers.

- Anonymous, South west London

Economics is not their strong point then.

- Shallotman, Basildon

They're not very good at rugby though, we used to kick them up and down the field year on year.

- Bob, Cheam (ex John Fisher)

Only a tiny proportion of local kids get educated there.

- R.Taylor, kingston upon thames

That is factually innacurate. Around half the kids come from the Borough of Kingston and the rest come mainly from surrounding Boroughs

- Giles Smyth, New Malden, Surrey

I think this is disgusting. typical loony lefty policy of give money first, ask questions later

- Otis Bumberry, Morden

Tiffin is fully selective and has no distance requirement so as R.Taylor says very few local kids are educated there.

- Mark, London

My son is currently a pupil at the school. He is benefitting from a fantastic state education. The school was already a good school before Mr Heslop arrived but on his appointment he resolved to make it an excellent school. The changes he implemented and his visionary leadership had just begun to bear fruit. For the first time ever Tiffin boys beat Tiffin Girls in the league tables; record numbers are gaining entry to Oxbridge; OFSTED was outstanding etc. There can be no doubt that Mr Heslop has the left the school educationaly stronger, with a modern and outward looking approach. I wish him well at Folkstone - they are very lucky to get such a leader. I am sure he will make a real difference to them as he did to Tiffin. If there were more like him perhaps the state education sector would not be mired in mediocrity but aspire to excellence as they do at Tiffin.

- John Edwards, Kingston upon Thames

Both our sons were at Tiffin about thirty years ago, and were given a wonderful education in class and on the sports field. The music, art and drama were, and still are, really excellent. Many of the teachers became and remain, after all these years, their friends and ours. We are still very much in touch and contribute to the School fund annually. Any parents whose boy(s) attend the school are fantastically lucky and so are their sons. All current and (at least) recent parents should contribute whatever they can afford to maintain a quite splendid school and staff. If in doubt, they should check on the cost of the several independent schools in the close vicinity and work out how much they are saving on their children's education, recognising their debt to society for what is being provided for them almost free and is now threatened.

Alastair Morley-Brown

- Alastair Morley-Brown, Kingston Vale, London

Only a tiny proportion of local kids get educated there.

- R.Taylor, kingston upon thames

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